Saturday, July 25, 2009

Ryan Gregory Stice Charged with Child Abuse

Ryan Gregory Stice, 24, of Bremerton was charged with first-degree child abuse Thursday in Kitsap County Superior Court in connection with injuries found on his 3-month-old son.

Child Protective Services alerted Bremerton Police after an infant boy was taken to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma with a broken leg on July 19.

Doctors there found eight of his ribs and both collar bones had also been broken and were at varying stages of healing, according to court documents. The baby has since been released from the hospital and is in satisfactory condition, according to police.

Stice told police he didn’t intentionally hurt the child. He said he was lifting the baby from a swing and when he put him on the couch he heard a snap, according to reports. He said he didn’t call 911 because a neighbor whose mother was a nurse came over and said the baby’s hip likely came out of its socket and would be sore for a few days, but wouldn’t need medical attention, according to court documents.

He told officers the baby’s other broken bones were likely a result of him swaddling the child and squeezing the baby too tightly when he wouldn’t stop crying, according to reports.

Police and CPS continue to investigate the case. Stice is being held in jail on $50,000 bail. His next court date is scheduled for Aug. 12.